Laterally movable doors



Oct. 31, 1961 Filed Oct. 12, 1959 T. MADLAND LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS 4 Sheets-Sheet l l4- '5 T mi l zz I I a/Z5 :l i

THORVHLD MGDL awn Oct. 31, 1961 T. MADLAND LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 12, 1959 .a x @w ML 6 WW E Y M Oct. 31, 1961 T. MADLAND LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 12, 1959 INVENTOR. THo/e'vew Meme/v0 Oct. 31, 1961 T. MADLAND 3,006,040

LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS 7 Filed Oct. 12, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. THOEVHLD Mame/v0 nited States town Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Oct. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 845,732 6 Claims. (Cl. 2023) It is an object of this invention to provide doors for railway cars which shall be movable laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and longitudinally along the walls and embody means for preventing inward movement of the doors toward the side walls as the doors are moved longitudinally.

A further object is to provide doors for railway cars which shall be movable laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and longitudinally along the walls and embody means for determining the position of the doors relative to the side walls after the doors have been moved laterally out of the door openings and maintaining such position during the longitudinal movement of the doors.

A further object is to provide doors for railway cars which shall be movable laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and longitudinally along the walls and embody means for preventing contact between gaskets on the doors and stops on the car sides which engage and limit longitudinal opening movement of the doors,

A further object is to provide doors for railway cars which shall be movable laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and longitudinally along the walls and embody means of simplified construction and reduced cost for preventing inward movement of the doors toward the side walls as the doors are moved longitudinally.

A further object is to provide doors for railway cars which shall be movable laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and longitudinally along the Walls and embody means for preventing inward movement of the doors toward the side walls as the doors are moved longitudinally wherein the means shall be so designed as to reduce the number of parts heretofore required while retaining the functionings of such parts.

A further object is to provide doors for railway cars which shall embody means including cranks for moving the doors laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and means associated with the first means capable of effecting a substantial decrease in the number of different crank required for doors of different thicknesses.

A further object is to provide doors for railway cars which shall embody means including vertical bars rotatably mounted on the doors for moving the doors laterally into and out of door openings provided in the side walls of the cars and means for preventing inward movement of the doors toward the side walls as the doors are moved longitudinally, wherein the latter means shall be capable of preventing movement of the bars toward the doors.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a portion of a side wall of a freight car having a laterally movable door embodying the instant invention, the door being closed.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the door in full open position.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

atent 3,906,040 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 FIG. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section similar to FIG. 4 showing invention used on a thinner door and employing cranks of same length as used on the thicker door.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention the numeral 10 designates a side wall of a railway car. A door opening 11 is formed in the side wall and is adapted to be closed by a laterally movable door 12. In closed position door 12 is seated in the door opening. To move the door laterally out of the door opening 11 and position it in spaced relationship to the side wall 10 for longitudinal movement along the side wall upon a track 13 vertical pipes 14 are rotatably secured upon the door 12 by means of brackets 15, 16 and 17. Cranks 18 are secured to the top of the pipes and extend upwardly behind retainer 19' which guides the door in its longitudinal movement and retains the top of the door upon the car. Cranks 20 are secured to the lower ends of the pipes 14 and are journalled in roller hangers 21 mounted upon the track.

Clevises 22 are secured upon the pipes 14 above and adjacent to the bracket 16. At their lower ends the clevises are formed with lugs 23 which extend outwardly and then downward below the clevises. The lugs 23 lie in diametrically opposed relationship to spaced cars 24 provided on the clevises. Levers 25 for rotating the pipes are pivotally mounted between the cars 24 for swinging movement in a vertical plane. It is preferred that the levers be actuated by the mechanism illustrated and described in the patent to W. A. Beauchamp, 2,658,243, granted November 10, 1953, but other mechanisms may be used for this purpose or the levers 25 may be actuated by hand.

Collars 26 are initially loosely mounted upon the pipes 14 below the clevises 22 so that they rest upon the brackets 16 im -alignment with the lugs 23. The collars 26 are formed with opposed shoulders 27 and 28.

To determine the proper position of the collars 26 so that they may be secured in such position the door 12 is moved laterally out of the door opening to the desired spaced relationship with the side wall of the car. This lateral movement or the final portion of it is imparted to the door by actuation of the levers 25 and the rotation of the pipes 14. At the end of this lateral movement of the door the levers are released so that they swing downward to vertical position. During the rotation of the pipes the lugs 23 have swung toward the door. The collars 26 are now rotated about the pipes 14 until the shoulders 27 engage the levers 25 and the shoulders 28 engage the lugs 23. The collars 26 are then secured as by welding to the brackets 16.

The described relationship between the lugs 23, the levers 25 and the shoulders 27 and 28 of the collars 26 prevents lateral movement of the door toward the side wall 10 as the door is moved longitudinally along the track. Tendency of the door to swing laterally toward the side wall in one direction is prevented by the engagement between the lugs 23 and the shoulders 28. Tendency of the door to swing laterally toward the side wall in the opposite direction is prevented by the engagement between the levers 2S and the shoulders 27. Thus scraping of the door against the side wall cannot occur.

It will be observed from FIG. 3 of the drawings that the brackets 16 are simple pressings. Such brackets are made possible by the instant invention which, therefore, eliminates the more complicated and costlier cast brackets heretofore required. Moreover, the collars of the instant invention effect the elimination of plate members heretofore required which were disposed behind the cast brackets and served to prevent movement of the pipes patterns required because a crank of given size can be 7 used on doors of different depths. The cost of doors is thereby materially reduced. This salutary result is obtained because the collars 26 can be rotated on the pipes so that the shoulders 27 and 28 can assume different angular positions. Cranks used on doors of a given thickness would position the levers and collars as illustrated. The same cranks can be used on thinner doors. With such doors the cranks and the levers would lie at a more acute angle to the doors when the latter have been moved laterally out of the door openings. It would only be necessary in this case to rotate the collars 26 a little more to establish engagement of the lugs 23 and levers 25 with the shoulders 27 and 28 of the collars. After the collars are welded to the brackets 16 they serve to prevent inward later-al movement of the doors.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes he comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a railway car having a side Wall provided with a door opening and a door for closing the door opening, means supporting said door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening and longitudinal movement along the side wall, said means comprising vertical bars provided with cranks at the top and bottom thereof, brackets secured to said door and mounting said bars upon said door for rotation about their axes, clevises secured to said bars for rotation therewith, and operating levers pivotally connected to said clevises for vertical swinging movement, lugs depending from said clevises, collars loosely mounted on said bars between said clevises and certain of said brackets, means securing said collars to said latter brackets, said bars being rotatable relative to said collars, 'abutments on said collars, said abutments engaging said lugs and levers when said door has been moved laterally out of the door opening and said levers are in vertical depending position, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a railway car having a side wall provided with a door opening and a door for closing the door opening, means supporting said door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening and longitudinal movement along the side wall, said means comprising vertical bars provided with cranks at the top and bottom thereof, brackets secured to said door and mounting said bars upon said door for rotation about their axes, clevises secured to said bars for rotation therewith, and operating levers pivotally connected to said clevises for vertical swinging movement, lugs depending from said clevises, separate stop members disposed between certain of said brackets and clevises, means securing said step members to said latter brackets, said bars being rotatable relative to said stop members, said members engaging said lugs and levers when said door has been moved laterally out of the door opening and said levers are in vertical de pending position, for the purpose set forth.

3. In a railway car having a side wall provided with a door opening and a doc-r for closing the door opening, means supporting said door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening and longitudinal movement along the side wall, said means comprising vertical bars provided with cranks at the top and bottom thereof, brackets secured to said door and mounting said bars upon said door for rotation about their axes, clevises secured to said bars for rotation therewith, and operating levers pivotally connected to said clevises for vertical swinging movement, lugs depending from said clevises, separate stop members secured to certain of said brackets, said bars being rotatable relative to said stop members, said members engaging said lugs and said levers when said door has been moved laterally out of the door opening and said levers have been swung downwardly, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a railway car having a side wall provided with a door opening and a door for closing the door opening, means supporting said door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening and longitudinal movement along the side wall, said means comprising vertical bars provided with cranks at the top and bottom thereof, brackets secured to said door and mounting said bars upon said door for rotation about their axes, and operating levers pivotally supported on said bars for vertical swinging movement, lugs supported upon said bars for rotation therewith, separate stop members on certain of said brackets, said bars being rotatable relative to said stop members, said stop members engaging said lugs and said levers after said door has been moved laterally out of the door opening and said levers are in vertical depending position, and means securing said stop members to said brackets, for the purpose set forth,

5. In a railway car having a side wall provided with a door opening, and a door for closing the door opening, means supporting said door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening and longitudinal movement along the side Wall, said means comprising vertical bars provided with cranks at the top and bottom thereof, brackets secured to said door and mounting said bars upon said door for rotation about their axes, operating levers, means pivotally supporting said levers on said bars for vertical swinging movement, separate stop members secured to certain of said brackets, said bars being rotatable relative to said stop members, shoulders provided on said stop members, said shoulders engaging said levers after said door has been moved laterally out of the door opening and said lovers are in vertical depending position, said engagement between said shoulders and said levers preventing rotation of said vertical bars and movement of the door toward the car side during longitudinal movement of the door along the car side.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5 wherein said stop members are disposed to engage said bars and prevent movement thereof toward said door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

